If you want to start trading forex in South Africa, you will be delighted to learn that it is pretty quick and easy to dive in.
In this post, we are going to walk you through the process of opening your account, making your first deposit, and positioning yourself for the best chance of success. Let’s begin.
1. Choose a South African forex broker.
To place forex trades, you are going to need a broker. And since you are in South Africa, you will need to choose a broker that works with customers from your country.
Additionally, you will need to consider other factors such as deposit and withdrawal methods, the minimum deposit amount, lot sizes available, spreads and commissions, trading tools, customer service, bonuses and contests, and other features when you are selecting a broker.
Check out recommended South Africa forex brokers for a vetted list of trustworthy, reputable and safe brokers offering a great trading experience.
2. Register your account.
After you decide on a broker for your trading, you will need to open your account. This is as simple as clicking on the “Join” or “Register” button on the broker’s site, and then filling in your personal information.
Opening your account usually takes just a few minutes. Make sure that you provide factual details, as you will eventually need to verify your identity (see the next step).
3. Verify your identity.
Forex brokers follow Know Your Customer (KYC) policies. That means they need you to verify that you are who you claim to be.
You can either complete this step immediately, or you can wait until later to do it. It involves providing copies of some basic documents. Generally, you will need to provide:
- Proof of identity: This could be your ID card or driver’s license.
- Proof of residency: Utility bills or bank statements can prove that you live where you say you do.
If you are eager to start trading, you might feel like putting this off until later. The reason we recommend you do not do that is because you will have to verify your identity to make your first withdrawal.
However annoying going through ID verification may be, it will be less frustrating to do it now than later when you just want to get access to your money.
4. Claim your no deposit welcome bonus.
If the broker you signed up with offers a forex no deposit bonus in South Africa, now will be your chance to claim it.
As the name suggests, you do not have to deposit any money to claim this type of bonus, and it is yours to begin trading with immediately.
5. Deposit your funds and claim your deposit bonus.
Of course, you can make a deposit at this point in time if you so choose. If you do, there may be a deposit welcome bonus that you can claim. This type of bonus is a percentage match based on the amount that you deposit with your first transfer to your forex account.
6. Choose a trading method.
Once your funds are in your account, should you start trading? If you already have a trading method and money management method ready to go, then you can, yes.
But if you do not, you are going to need to take care of these steps before you put your hard-earned money on the line.
Every trader who hopes to succeed at forex needs a trading method; there are no exceptions. You cannot get rich just trading on instinct.
If you are clueless where to start looking for a forex trading system, do not be apprehensive—there are a lot of options.
In this post, we give you a list of places you can look and resources you can call upon to find a trading system for forex. You can also try creating one from scratch using what you learn along the way.
7. Backtest your trading method.
After you choose a trading method, you need to put it to the test. It is not enough just to rely on someone else telling you “this method works.”
The first phase of testing is backtesting. This is the stage where you go through historical charts rapidly to test hundreds of trades to see how they would have turned out using your system rules. Find out how to conduct a backtest.
8. Demo test your trading method.
After you finish backtesting, you need to demo test. And this brings us back to talking about forex brokers.
Unless you already ran demo tests elsewhere, the first type of account you will use with the broker you just signed up for is a demo account.
This is a type of account where you can trade with fake, virtual funds instead of real money.
You are going to need to demo your trading method for as long as necessary to become profitable with it in real time. Once you have enough data to be confident in what you are doing, then you will be able to switch to live trading.
While you are demo testing, be sure to participate in any South Africa forex demo contests your broker offers.
9. Create a money management plan.
Alongside your trading method, you also are going to need a money management strategy.
This is actually a simpler step to take care of. While there are countless trading methods out there you can try, the key to good money management is simple: risk a flat percentage of your account at all times, and keep it conservative. Many professional traders recommend between 1-2%.
Do not be tempted by progressive systems like Martingale. While these methods may appear enticing, they just cause traders to lose money.
10. Start trading live with real money.
Once you have taken care of all of the steps above, you will be ready to trade live with real money! Now your forex career can begin in earnest.
Remember, if you could use some extra money for trading, you should look for a no deposit bonus forex promotion in South Africa. Take a look at our recommended brokers to claim your bonus and start trading.
